Case Number 20510: Small Claims Court

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON 8 (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

You can't keep a good slayer down for long...

The Case

Buffy the Vampire Slayer flamed out rather spectacularly, at the end
of her seventh year on television. The entire town of Sunnydale was decimated,
thousands of slayers were activated all over the world, and Buffy Summers was no
longer alone in her role as earth's first line of defense against the
supernatural. Oh yeah, and the show was canceled. The whole gang rode off into
the sunset with no plans for an eighth season or even a desire to look back. But
then something happened: Joss Whedon decided he would do a Dark Horse comic book
run of what he thought Season Eight would have looked like. With a plot
decidedly fantastical, he adapted to his writing to the form, making the
storyline broader and more out there than you might expect. The concept of Buffy
leading a militarized union of global slayers remained, their new headquarters a
castle in Scotland, far from sunny California. Xander is a high tech one-eyed
watcher, Dawn has grown three times her size thanks to a dating mistake, and
Willow and Giles are still doing their mysterious mystical thing. The government
wants to take Buffy down, an old enemy shows up to exact revenge on the
"Scooby Gang," and a new threat out of Japan rises to threaten every
young vampire killer. Seems the Slayer still has her work cut out for her.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 pulls together 16 months worth of
comics, totaling 19 issues. The published pages take on a slightly animated form
with motion added and Whedon's dialogue acted out by new voice talent. None of
the original cast return, and that's truly the only gripe I have with this
concept. The actors seem to struggle a bit with the script, and it all feels
rushed. But the artwork does look good on television thanks to the incredible
artists whose panels are truly stunning, so the occasional cheesy line delivery
or twirly motion effect is not even irritating. Buffy fans should be
pleased.

There is much rumbling among the faithful, though, as followers believe the
title is misleading. There are only 19 chapters of what wound up being a 40
issue story arc. Thus, this is merely the first volume of Season Eight, and you
should know that going in. If this title sells well, there will be more, but
don't be misled into thinking you are getting the entire story.

The comics are better in your hand, of course, but this is an interesting
way to experience them. It's also fun to compare both DVD and Blu-ray formats in
one slipcase. As you might expect, the 1080p high definition version looks more
vibrant and clear, but the DVD is nice in its own way. There are no issues with
either transfer, and honestly both are acceptable. Most all of the bonus
features are the same on both discs, save for some format exclusives. Extras
include a test pilot version of the first issue which simply features a look at
what they were working towards in a rough form. There is also a Trivia Track
that fills in connections to the show's televised run or other nods to the Buffy
universe. "Under Buffy's Spell" is a featurette that looks at the
whole Buffy craze at 2010's Comic Con, and talks about the concept for the
comic. There is also a cover gallery which lets you browse all the artwork from
Season 8. And finally, there is a "Create Your Own Buffy Comic"
DVD-ROM feature. On the Blu-Ray there are BD-Live enabled extras including bonus
footage and a chance to connect with fans.

The real joy and fun of this work is that Season Eight of Buffy the
Vampire Slayer is only something that could work in a comic book. Joss
Whedon and his team do a bang-up job jumping into a format that relies more on
visuals and fantastic elements than television. This presentation of the Dark
Horse comics allows you to see it on TV, but it still feels like the original
print run. Making it animated with motion and voice talent doesn't detract from
anything, but you are always reminded there is a book out there you should
probably read to get the full effect. And of course, this is only half the
story.